Game developers aren't always known as an organized bunch. Maybe that's an unfair perception, with unrealistic expectations, overly ambitious ideas, poor scheduling, etc., but it's tough to dispute the number of delayed games every year. Half-Life 2, Final Fantasy XII, Fable, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory -- Duke Nukem Forever is going on about nine years in development now. So when we recently sat down recently with Infinity Ward president Grant Collier, chief creative officer Vince Zampella, chief technology officer Jason West, and lead designer Zied Rieke, it was refreshing to get the sense that these guys place a premium on organization.

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For one example, they were able to round up four key team members for our interview less than two weeks from E3, where Call of Duty 2 is set to receive its big debut. More towards the game development, though, the team seems prepared for everything. They don't take three months out of their normal schedule to produce something that will impress at E3 -- they show a slice of what they've completed of the final game. They don't wait to see how much time they'll have leftover for extras and marketing -- it's already in the schedule to produce a pre-release demo. They are running out of office space with the recent staff size increase from 25 to around 60 -- but they're waiting to finish the game before they move offices.

So far, their approach appears to be paying off. Infinity Ward's first game, the original Call of Duty, hit stores at a time when many felt the war shooter market was overcrowded, yet managed to receive incredibly strong reviews and sales numbers, turning it almost instantly into a marquee franchise for Activision.

The impressive part about all this organization is that Call of Duty 2 is one of the most ambitious games currently in development -- it'd be easy to stay organized without ambition, after all. On the technology side, the team is working with an original, from-the-ground-up engine that showcases environmental effects like smoke and rain amongst a world with looks comparable to the best visuals on the market. Mix in with that a new design where many of the game's levels feature a non-linear structure, a new AI system that allows teammates and opponents to be effective in these open worlds, and a "battle chatter" feature where NPCs in the game talk to each other, and it becomes clear this is an ambitious project.

According to Zampella, one of the biggest development pushes for the sequel is to make the game -- and all these added features -- accessible to players. Despite the success of the first Call of Duty, the team doesn't want to assume too much about the audience that will be playing the second game. "Accessibility is huge for us," he says. "With the controls, with the interface, with the objectives -- it's something we put a lot of effort into."

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Given that the non-linear level structure is a big part of Call of Duty 2's design, the team has taken extra care to make sure players know where to go at all times. In addition to a map in the corner of the screen showing the direction of the next objective, the characters in the world will help guide the player along. "There are visual clues to let you know where to go," says Zampella. "If there are three doorways and you don't know where to go, generally one of your squadmates will be guarding one door, saying, 'Come on, let's go' and wave you on."

In case this isn't enough to guide players along, Infinity Ward is going through comprehensive testing to make sure each level is accessible. "The designer has to sit there on his hands [and watch the tester play], says West. "He's not allowed to speak. He can't talk, he can't laugh -- these are serious rules, and you have to watch the guy play your level. If it takes him five hours and he gets lost, you just have to sit there and take it." All in the name of accessibility, of course.